Diary of a disability benefit claimant + Health | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/series/diary-of-a-disability-benefit-claimant+health
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What happens when you can't communicate freely?http://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2011/jul/08/speech-difficulty-communication
Trying to make speech keep up with thought is a battle for Edward Lawrence<p>In a previous blog, I made mention of the fact that our <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/14/walking-not-taken-for-granted">ancestors walking on two limbs instead of four was an evolutionary triumph</a>. This post is about an evolutionary triumph of equal, if not greater, import. I refer, of course, to verbal communication.</p><p>Scientists have long been arguing over when this occurred and how long was the gap between language and speech. According to scientists these two things, which we think of nowadays as the same, are actually quite distinct from a linguistic point of view.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2011/jul/08/speech-difficulty-communication">Continue reading...</a>DisabilitySocietyHealthBenefitsFri, 08 Jul 2011 09:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2011/jul/08/speech-difficulty-communicationMaria Teijeiro/Getty ImagesImagine being told you can't say what you want to. Photograph: Maria Teijeiro/Getty ImagesMaria Teijeiro/Getty Imagessecret whisper woman alone finger mouth lips close-up
sb10065437q-001.jpg Photograph: Maria Teijeiro/Getty ImagesEdward Lawrence2011-07-08T09:00:00ZTaking the first stephttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jun/14/walking-not-taken-for-granted
Walking – something we take for granted – is not so easy when you're a scared adult re-learning, writes Edward Lawrence<p>Before the accident, I never gave much thought to walking, I just took it as a given. No one walked as fast as me. Not since I was 18 can I remember someone overtaking me; if they did it was rare indeed.</p><p>Not that I thought I walked fast, more that I had a big stride and that other people walked slowly. I made no concessions, so much so that in a place where I worked one member of staff had such short legs, she almost had to jog to keep up with me.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jun/14/walking-not-taken-for-granted">Continue reading...</a>DisabilitySocietyHealthNHSSocial careBenefitsTue, 14 Jun 2011 10:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jun/14/walking-not-taken-for-grantedImage Source/Rex FeaturesChild's play ... toddlers have no sense of danger. Photograph: Image Source/Rex FeaturesImage Source/Rex FeaturesBaby starting to walk Photograph: Image Source/Rex FeaturesEdward Lawrence2011-06-14T10:30:00Z'Friends' have added insult to severe brain injuryhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/may/19/friends-insult-severe-brain-injury
At least the government has an excuse for ignoring the needs of disabled people. It's unforgivable in the friends who have melted away, writes Edward Lawrence<p>My last post was about <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/05/disabled-benefit-fraud-injustice-edward-lawrence" title="what I consider to be the miscarriage of justice">what I consider to be the miscarriage of justice</a> as perpetrated by the present government on the disabled, in the form of harsh new medical tests. This can be slightly forgiven, although not totally, because governments have to deal with statistics and not individuals. Harder to accept are the smaller-scale miscarriages of justice perpetrated by those who you thought you knew.</p><p>I would like to acknowledge how extraordinarily inventive most of my friends have been as they have instinctively realised how, now that NHS input has stopped, without their time and energy, my road to recovery would be a cul-de-sac. They have seen <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jan/18/finding-light-to-aid-recovery" title="my depression">my depression</a> not as something that is my fault but as an inevitable consequence of going from being an energetic, dynamic and independent individual to being someone who is largely dependent on other people for pretty much everything. They have been indefatigable in their highly creative and ingenious solutions to not let me succumb to the comfortable apathy that prevents me from doing the exercises that might make my long-term future seem attainable.They have expounded tireless energy on my behalf and, in short, they have been as good a friend to me, as I was to them.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/may/19/friends-insult-severe-brain-injury">Continue reading...</a>DisabilityHealthNHSSocietySocial careBenefitsThu, 19 May 2011 08:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/may/19/friends-insult-severe-brain-injuryMartin Lof/Getty Images/amana images RMFriends have been notable by their absence since Edward Lawrence suffered his accident. Photograph: Martin Lof/Getty Images/amana images RMMartin Lof/Getty Images/amana images RMFriends have been notable by their absence since Edward Lawrence suffered his accident. Photograph: Martin Lof/Getty Images/amana images RMEdward Lawrence2011-05-19T08:00:02ZNHS reforms: Speaking up for speech therapies | Edward Lawrencehttp://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2011/apr/27/nhs-reforms-speech-therapies
What use is a NHS listening exercise if you can't use your voice, ask those whose speech therapies are being cut<p>Earlier this month, David Cameron, Andrew Lansley and Nick Clegg addressed 100 NHS professionals at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey as they launched their much vaunted <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/27/nhs-reform-live-blog-mental-health" title="listening exercise into the planned NHS reforms">listening exercise into the planned NHS reforms</a>. They were supported by the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/apr/20/nhs-reforms-key-players" title="head of the new NHS Future Forum">head of the new NHS Future Forum, Professor Steve Field</a>, who will weigh the views raised by the forum's patient representatives and healthcare professionals.</p><p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/apr/06/nhs-listening-exercise-thrown-doubt" title="The government, Lansley said">The government, Lansley said</a>, will &quot;take the opportunity of a natural break in the passage of the bill to pause, to listen and to engage with all those who want the NHS to succeed&quot;. It will lead to further amendments to the reforms, he added, while he tried to dispel fears about the future of emergency services. The NHS Future Forum is so new it was launched only <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/07/nhs-cameron-clegg-lansley-listening-exercise" title="listening exercise itself">days before the listening exercise itself</a> , yet Prof Field said:</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2011/apr/27/nhs-reforms-speech-therapies">Continue reading...</a>HealthSocietyPublic services policyPoliticsHealth policyBenefitsWed, 27 Apr 2011 11:05:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2011/apr/27/nhs-reforms-speech-therapiesLefteris Pitarakis/APThe coalition's listening exercise will exclude those whose speech therapies are being slashed. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/APLefteris Pitarakis/APDavid Cameron, centre, accompanied by Nick Clegg and Andrew Lansley, visit a patient ward at Frimley Park hospital in Surrey. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/APEdward Lawrence2011-04-27T11:05:12ZNothing reforming about the welfare billhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/mar/18/nothing-reforming-about-welfare-bill
Many fear the 'reforms' would push them into poverty while the new work capability assessment has found even terminally ill people fit for work<p>Last month the <a href="http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare-reform/legislation-and-key-documents/welfare-reform-bill-2011/" title="welfare reform bill">welfare reform bill</a> was introduced to parliament. The bill legislates for the biggest change to the welfare system for over 60 years. But 'reform' is a troublesome word for Iain Duncan Smith. It means, according to the Oxford English dictionary, to &quot;make changes (in something, especially an institution or practice) in order to <em>improve it </em>(my italics).&quot;</p><p></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/mar/18/nothing-reforming-about-welfare-bill">Continue reading...</a>DisabilityHealthSocietyWelfarePoliticsIain Duncan SmithBenefitsFri, 18 Mar 2011 13:11:48 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/mar/18/nothing-reforming-about-welfare-billJanine Wiedel Photolibrary / Ala/AlamyWelfare cuts would see £2.1bn taken out of the disability allowance pot over five years. Photograph: Janine Wiedel Photolibrary/AlamyJanine Wiedel Photolibrary / Ala/AlamyWelfare cuts would see £2.1bn taken out of the disability allowance pot over five years. Photograph: Janine Wiedel Photolibrary / Ala/AlamyEdward Lawrence2011-03-18T13:11:48ZPersonalisation does not make me an accountanthttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/mar/01/personalisation-care-budget-not-accountant
Choosing my own care is good, but having to account for every penny of my personal budget is bureaucracy gone mad, says Edward Lawrence<p>Two weeks ago I received an invitation requiring me to submit receipts and invoices to my local council so they could examine how I had spent my personalisation money and to establish to their satisfaction that I had not frittered my money away, coming as it does from the taxpayer.</p><p>Personalisation is the means whereby the whole bureaucracy of social services is negated and the money goes direct into the recipient's bank account to spend as they see fit. Previously, under the old system, it was ordained from on high how my money was to be spent and whom it was to be spent on – about as much use as a cement lifejacket.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/mar/01/personalisation-care-budget-not-accountant">Continue reading...</a>DisabilityHealthPublic sector cutsSocietyBenefitsTue, 01 Mar 2011 11:35:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/mar/01/personalisation-care-budget-not-accountantWolfram Schroll/Wolfram Schroll/zefa/CorbisThe personal budgets accounting process has become a 'nightmare of Kafkaesque proportions' Photograph: Wolfram Schroll/zefa/CorbisWolfram Schroll/Wolfram Schroll/zefa/CorbisThe personal budgets accounting process has become a 'nightmare of Kafkaesque proportions' Photograph: Wolfram Schroll/Wolfram Schroll/zefa/CorbisEdward Lawrence2011-03-01T11:35:00ZCutting subsidised travel will cut disabled people offhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/feb/11/cut-subsidised-travel-disabled
Cheaper travel is a lifeline for disabled people but it's facing numerous cuts, says Edward Lawrence<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jan/18/finding-light-to-aid-recovery" title="My previous post, being as it was deeply personal">My previous post, being as it was deeply personal</a> (and thanks to those who posted encouraging comments!), served to show that if I am critical about the manifold failings in this government's treatment of disabled people, then when it comes to my own mental attitude (and namely my self motivation and commitment to rehab exercises) I cannot suddenly don rose-tinted spectacles and ignore the weeds flourishing in my garden. Namely I must take responsibility for my own mental health (or lack thereof).</p><p>If my own mental health is a garden with weeds, what are we to make of the coalition government and its plans to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2011/jan/12/mobility-allowance-cut-disabled-meanest-of-all" title="cut by 160m the mobility component of disability living allowance">cut by &pound;160m the mobility component of disability living allowance</a> available to those in residential care homes? That theirs is less of a garden overgrown and out of control, and more a jungle?</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/feb/11/cut-subsidised-travel-disabled">Continue reading...</a>DisabilityHealthSocietyPublic sector cutsBenefitsFri, 11 Feb 2011 13:24:21 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/feb/11/cut-subsidised-travel-disabledGraham Turner/GuardianLondon taxi fare subsidies for disabled people are being reduced. Photograph: Graham Turner for the GuardianGraham Turner/GuardianLate-night taxis home from work are being targeted by the Office of Tax Simplification, which wants to abolish tax relief on such expenses. Photograph: Graham Turner for the GuardianEdward Lawrence2011-02-11T13:24:21ZFinding the light that will aid recoveryhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jan/18/finding-light-to-aid-recovery
My new year's resolution is to focus on the positive, hard as that seems at times, writes Edward Lawrence<p>As my mood is inextricably linked to motivation and thus to getting better, I ask your indulgence whilst I tell you about it briefly. Given that it is a wide-ranging subject I might return to it – albeit occasionally, I hasten to add!</p><p>A psychiatrist from the community mental health team called two weeks before Christmas and suggested an insight that had never occurred to me. The reason for the visit was that I was just like you, until hopefully unlike you, some time ago I collapsed, flatlined in the back of an ambulance, suffered multi-organ failure, was in a medically induced coma and then woke up like this. This being relearning to walk, to talk, to write and not having fine motor skills; in fact, having to relearn everything as a result of brain damage. That this came as something of a shock is a considerable understatement.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jan/18/finding-light-to-aid-recovery">Continue reading...</a>DisabilityHealthMental healthSocial careLong-term careSocietyBenefitsTue, 18 Jan 2011 15:57:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jan/18/finding-light-to-aid-recoveryKevin Foy/Rex FeaturesTrying to resist the downward spiral. Photograph: Kevin Foy/Rex FeaturesKevin Foy/Rex FeaturesSpiral staircase in the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Photograph: Kevin Foy/Rex FeaturesEdward Lawrence2011-01-18T15:57:09ZCost cutting could make personal care a blunt instrumenthttp://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2010/nov/26/cost-cutting-personal-care-edward-lawrence
You get what you pay for when it comes to quality of care agencies, Edward Lawrence has found. But will cost cuts force him to accept an inferior quality of life?<p>I know I shouldn't compare them, really I shouldn't, but they both call themselves care agencies so fair's fair and this is my own admittedly highly subjective experience.</p><p>So here goes….</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2010/nov/26/cost-cutting-personal-care-edward-lawrence">Continue reading...</a>DisabilitySocial carePublic sector cutsLong-term careHealthSocietyWelfarePoliticsBenefitsFri, 26 Nov 2010 10:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2010/nov/26/cost-cutting-personal-care-edward-lawrenceDaisy Daisy/Getty ImagesCan personal budgets deliver a silver service level of care? Photograph: Daisy Daisy/Getty ImagesDaisy Daisy/Getty ImagesShine on: Can old silver cutlery be made as good as new? Photograph: Daisy Daisy/Getty ImagesEdward Lawrence2010-11-26T10:00:02ZWelfare reform: what choice is there for those forced off disability benefits?http://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2010/nov/11/welfare-reform-disability-benefit-cuts
As the government unveils its welfare reform plans today, Edward Lawrence says George Osborne's tough talk on cutting welfare takes no account of people who cannot work due to disability<p>A tabloid recently proclaimed on its front page that 75% of people in receipt of incapacity benefits have failed a medical designed to weed out scroungers. They omitted to mention, no doubt due to a shortage of space, that this is because the new and supremely insensitive medical test is almost impossible to pass fully. Without my <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2010/aug/23/disability-welfare-rights-advisers" title="Welfare Rights Advisor's">welfare rights adviser's</a> good offices on my behalf I wouldn't be among the 5% of claimants who are in the protected &quot;support group&quot; of employment support allowance. Those who are instead placed in the &quot;work-related activity group&quot; will now, if they are on the &quot;contributory element&quot; of the benefit, be moved to jobseeker's allowance (with no specialised assistance and less money, not to mention no available jobs) after one year.</p><p>Without my adviser's time and expertise, I wouldn't be getting the rehabilitation I so desperately need. I hear that the already ruthless medicals are set to get even harder early next year. I have been summoned by my GP to help him fill in a form about my ability to work, or not. This alarms me. Why are the Department for Work and Pensions writing to him when my adviser has told them that I cannot walk, talk properly, have poor motor skills (typing this takes hours for example) as a result of a serious acquired brain injury? All his good offices on my behalf are suddenly in jeopardy thanks to George Osborne's convincing impersonation of Freddy Krueger.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2010/nov/11/welfare-reform-disability-benefit-cuts">Continue reading...</a>DisabilityHealthSocial careSocietyGeorge OsborneWelfarePoliticsPublic sector cutsPublic services policyPublic financeBenefitsThu, 11 Nov 2010 10:45:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2010/nov/11/welfare-reform-disability-benefit-cutsLewis Whyld/PAOsborne's 'sleight of hand' is imposing benefit cuts on those who are not able to work. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PAEdward Lawrence2010-11-11T10:45:45ZLiving with disability: a wake-up callhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2010/sep/30/edward-lawrence-living-with-disability
Simple tasks like taking a shower have become an undignified struggle since suffering brain damage, writes Ed Lawrence of his daily routine<p>The very concept of your brain not knowing what balance is, let alone managing to send messages to the leg muscles telling them to walk is, I hope, an alien one to readers. To me though, it is a concept that I face every waking moment of every day. The only respite is sleep, which I wake from with the dawning realisation that I can't walk a yard unaided. Imagine waking up to that and not some gorgeous creature. Every. Day. Of. Your. Life.</p><p>I was just like you until hopefully unlike you, some time ago I collapsed, flatlined in the back of an ambulance, suffered multi-organ failure, was in a medically induced coma and then woke up like this. This being relearning to walk, to talk, to write and not having fine motor skills – the ones that correctly recognise a razor as not being a conductor's baton – in fact, having to relearn everything as a result of brain damage. That this came as something of a shock is a considerable understatement. Having once been able-bodied and now not being even a shadow of my former self, I can offer a unique perspective on the life of a disabled service user (one I wish I didn't have).</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2010/sep/30/edward-lawrence-living-with-disability">Continue reading...</a>DisabilityHealthSocietyBenefitsThu, 30 Sep 2010 15:26:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2010/sep/30/edward-lawrence-living-with-disabilityRichard Drury/Getty ImagesKnowing how to tell a razor from a conductor's baton was the first step Photograph: Richard Drury/Getty ImagesRichard Drury/Getty ImagesKnowing how to tell a razor from a conductor's baton was the first step Photograph: Richard Drury/Getty ImagesEdward Lawrence2010-09-30T15:26:00ZForget 'efficiency savings' – we need our specialist welfare advisershttp://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2010/aug/23/disability-welfare-rights-advisers
Plans to replace experienced welfare rights advisers with generic benefits staff are almost laughable<p>This morning I had a most illuminating meeting with my welfare rights adviser from the local council. He had called to carry out a home visit, ostensibly to help me fill out my re-application for disability living allowance (DLA). But once that had been done he was brutally honest about the current failings of the system as he saw it and how, if proposed 'efficiency savings' coupled with planned changes went ahead, this would only serve to make to make an already dire situation even worse.</p><p>Plans are already underway to reduce the existing specialist welfare rights adviser with a hub of benefits advisers who will work on all benefits, not just disability benefits, and who lack specialist knowledge. Previous experience of such 'efficiency' moves, my adviser tells me, already in place with the over 60s, has resulted in such benefits advisers accepting all recommendations by the Department for Work and Pensions and Atos (the company contracted to assess incapacity benefit and employment support allowance claimants) and never instigating appeals on behalf of their disabled clients.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2010/aug/23/disability-welfare-rights-advisers">Continue reading...</a>DisabilityHealthLearning disabilitySocietySocial careLong-term careState benefitsMoneyBenefitsMon, 23 Aug 2010 16:23:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2010/aug/23/disability-welfare-rights-advisersKaren Beard/GettyWelfare advisers should not be replaced by inexperienced benefits staff. Photograph: Karen BeardKaren Beard/GettyPhotograph: Karen BeardEdward Lawrence2010-08-23T16:23:04Z